Page 43 of So Thirsty

“Help her! You have to help her!” My voice is shrill with panic, and it sounds so far away, like it’s coming from another reality, another universe. “Please!”

I crawl to her on my elbows, dragging my legs behind me, leaving a trail of blood. Her neck is a mess, a fountain spewing red through her fingers. It’s too much.

“Naomi? Nay. It’s me. Stay with me, okay?”

She whimpers, the only response she’s capable of. I press my hand over hers, over the gash.

“Please!” I scream. “Please! Help!”

“Drago?” I hear Ilie say. “What do you want to do?”

Tatiana mutters something in French. Then, in English, “Foolish to have guests here. Did I not say this?”

“Please, please, please, please…” I can’t watch her die. I can’t, I can’t.

“Sloane,” Henry says. “Listen to me. You need to make a choice.”

“Please…She’s my life. Please, help. I won’t say anything about the man. Please. Call nine-one-one.”

“You need to listen. You need to believe me.”

“I am listening. Please!” I look at Naomi, her eyelids fluttering. I hover my free hand over her mouth and feel that she is still breathing, but her breath is weak.

“Do you hear me? We are offering a choice to you, and to Naomi.”

“Are we?” Tatiana asks. “What happened to democracy?”

“It is good with me,” Ilie says. “They are fun. Beautiful. Elisa?”

“Yes, I agree. I love them. Both of them,” Elisa says. “Real American girls.”

“It’s time,” Costel says. “It’s been, what? A hundred years?”

“We haven’t encountered anyone else nearly as amenable,” Miri says.

“They will cause problems,” Tatiana says. “Mark my words.”

I’m too desperate to care about their conversation, whatever it’s about. “Please! I’m begging you. Please. She’s losing so much blood.”

“I say we drain them and move on,” Tatiana says. She inhales. “Don’t you smell it? They are sweet.”

“No,” Henry says, picking up the fire iron and swinging it over his shoulder. “We let Sloane decide their fate.”

He looks at me with that damn fox grin spread across his face. “How would you like to live forever?”

15

“ W h-what?” “Eternal life. Eternal youth.”

“What are you talking about? Are you—are you really not going to help us? What’s wrong with you? Fuck you!”

“It’s a simple choice,” Henry says. “To live forever or to die as you are.”

“Easy-peasy,” Ilie says. “We party, have good time.”

Naomi gasps for breath. My hand is slippery with her blood, and it keeps sliding out of position. I can’t believe this is happening. I can’t believe this is real. It must be a dream. I must be dreaming. I…

I’m back in the hospital after my fall, slowly sobering up, thinking, This must be a dream.